The CFO Transition: Looking Back on What it Means to Look Forward

By Jennifer Cryder, CPA, PICPA Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of OperationsIn transitioning to the role of CFO of the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs, I’ve had to develop skills beyond the normal technical expertise of a CPA. Now, instead of focusing on the past through historical financial reporting, I’m challenged to look ahead and use the financial data we have to inform strategy. Technology has provided many tools to help draw meaningful conclusions from an abundance of data. I’ve been delighted to see what the combination of my traditional CPA skill set and technology-focused data analysis can do for my organization.

In my recent blog post on AccountingWEB, I provide some tips on how I’ve been making the transition. As I commented on this post, and would like to reiterate, is that at the core of both financial reporting and strategic decision making is the ability to tell a story through data. As I continue to explore this new role let me know what tips and tools you use to help analyze and use data effectively.